The Fate of Golden Antioch

Superpowers in the era of the Crusades

Hmm, I don’t recall which day it is, I stopped counting a while ago. I think it’s the heat, it might be messing with my head, I heard a story once that a fellow knight told me – he heard about a noble man who stayed in the sun wearing full plate armour for quite long – and died – on the spot, just like that. His heart just stopped working. Dangerous stuff.

It was just a few days ago I was a simple man employed by a lord, with a clear purpose in life.

Now where am I? In a city I dreamed of, given stewardship of men that should have no master, and having killed more men than I had ever met before…
A monster has been given unto Dae as if she were a gift, a monster I allowed to live.

We are leading what seems to have turned into a witch-hunt into the poor areas of the city. Dae seems to have risen to the task of heierarch and rabble-rouser with aplomb.
I can only hope I can find this so called ‘worm-king’ before she get’s her claws into him…
Perhaps he will be able to help this situation…

An aside, from the Diary of Harlan Thorne

As a direct consequence of rescuing the refugee column, we have discovered a most disturbing man.
While outwardly seeming to be a man worthy of praise, he seems to have a darker side, and is gifted with the power to compel men and women against their will.
He has forced his beliefs and desires onto the Lady Dae; along with an entire camp of refugees who were heading to the safety of Antioch…
For the sake of my freedom, and the freedom of many others, this man cannot be allowed to survive.
This must be yet another black mark upon my past, that others may live freely…

A diary by Mr. Thorne, part one.

We have arrived at the great city of Antioch!
While it is everything I have sought and believed in, the conditions of the so-called ‘poor-quarter’ are a cause for concern – are not all men equal? Should not all men be able to trust those empowered to keep them safe and secure? Should we not all strive to destroy inequity?

I should define ‘we’… After the ambush of my Lord’s caravan, I joined a party led by what seemed to be nothing but a confused and somewhat delusional woman, named Dae. Further investigation, and later events, seem to show her to be gifted in a similar manner to myself. If it wasn’t for my former Lord’s teachings, I might consider her to be an angel of the lord! as obviously many of her followers do.
We were ambush on the path to Antioch by a group of Bandits and Catholics, at which point another of our party showed his gifts. Heinrich, who I had assumed to be nothing but a simple and brutal knight of the hinterlands of Germania, revealed himself to be capable of growing to immense proportions, and unleashing blasts of flaming death from his eyes…! Incredible!

It seems that our impromtu party has caught the eyes of the Lord Bohemond, who has tasked us to investigate and seek out another group of bandits and Catholic crusaders, in order to gain his trust. We will set out on this quest soon, and hopefully by the might of our arms and the nimbleness of our thought, we shall prevail!

To all those now persecuted by Church or Lord, I Bohemond, Prince of Antioch, declare my lands a haven for all those in need of protection.

The Pope has cast out all those whose power he cannot control, all those who would walk a path he has not dictated.

He has cast me out, for I am like you.

I will not allow this to be my end. All of you who now struggle to find a place in a world which fears and hates you, bring yourselves to Antioch and as long as you stand to protect those within who cannot protect themselves, as long as you stand to protect the city and lands of Antioch, I will support and welcome you. I will not cast you out.

Spread the word in all the lands of the Levant. Antioch is a free city, here all are welcome.

A Journal for our campaign

Greetings!

Once you’ve set up your character please start adding entries to the adventure journal. To begin with an entry dealing with initial thoughts on other characters or what your characters were doing prior to the events of the first session would be good.
I feel it would be more fun to keep them all ‘in-character’ but i leave the final descision up to you!

Thanks

(Ps, feel free to add pictures or html tweaks if you have the know-how. If not let me know what you need and i’ll try and sort it out.)